Archive for January, 2008

That’s not true. It does matter if the Patriots with the Super Bowl, just not as much as everyone seems to think. I find myself constantly treated to anti-Pats people (who until this year held no animosity to the team, they merely resent their success). In fact, I have had one friend go so far as to suggest that they are the “Yankees of football” (not meant as a compliment). He ignores, of course, the fact that there is a salary cap in football, preventing the money dichotomy of baseball, and Tom Brady was an original Patriots draft pick (the 199th player to be drafted that year) not just some purchased player that another team couldn’t afford. The most common assertion, however, is that “the Patriots aren’t that good, they only beat my team by X (where x is some small number).” This is followed by the statement “besides, if they lose the Superbowl, this whole season will have been for naught.”

Wrong

Even if the Pats lose the Superbowl, even if they had lost to the Chargers, this would have been a landmark season, and they would still, in my mind, have been up there for one of the best teams ever.

1. Revililization of football:

I do not mean to suggest that football was dying, merely that this seasons Pats have whipped up an uncanny amount of interest. I submit as evidence the December Pats Giants game, the first game to be simulcast since the 1967 Super Bowl I and the first ever to be simulcast on three networks. With approx 34 million viewers, it was the most watched regular season game since the ’95 Thanksgiving game, which had 35 million.

2. Records

Sure, it would be great if the Pats could have a perfect season. But failing that, we’ll have to “live with”

1) Most TD passes 2) most TD receptions 3) total points in a season 4)Players with a TD (tie, but it shows team diversity) 5) TD’s in a season (75) 6) highest completion percentage in a game; and more Franchise records then is appropriate. This gives the Pats (assuming the Internets are to be trusted) 37ish NFL records.

3. Outstanding displays of athleticism

What? I know. It’s crazy. You must understand though that this article comes from someone who likes both the Yankees and the Red Sox, under the rational “they’re both really good at playing baseball.” People have, on occasion, accused me of being a “front-runner.” I do not entirly deny this claim. In general, I am uninterested in sports. The only time I ever watched hockey was the ’99 ’00 season (I lived in NJ at the time) when the Devils won the Stanley Cup. I generally only ever watch the playoffs in Baseball, and this is the first year I’ve really followed the Pats. However, I do NOT follow and support the winning teams because “I like to be on the winning side.” Rather, I support and follow them because I enjoy outstanding displays of athleticism. Yes, I get that you like to follow your teams, support them through think and thin, follow the players around, blah blah. Not for me. I get it, I appreciate it, I just don’t enjoy it. What I recall from the ’99 Devils was that they made hockey look easy. They were fun to watch, not because they did crazy wacky stunts, but because they were solid. They plade with such grace, elegance, perfection, coordination that sometimes the games looked scripted. They were awesome. So are the patriots. Sure, its fun to watch Brady bomb it Moss, miss, run the same play again, and make it. But the patriots engage in outstanding displays of athleticism noy only in their “wow” plays (see the fake Statue of Liberty) but also their normal plays. They aren’t sloppy, they have their shit together. They are good at everything they do. Again, grace, elegance, coordination, perfection.

So, in short, rock on Patriots. Even if you lose the Super Bowl, you should be proud of yourselves. You’re a credit to the Patriot franchise and the NFL.

I signed onto AOL today to print an email attachment off for my parents today, and was treated to a story about the latest election scandal. It seems that the Clinton’s have drawn the ire of ‘black leaders’ for making racially insensitive comments. I have found the video of Bill on youtube, and this is how it goes

[blah blah blah talking about obamas voting record as compared on the Iraq war as compared to how he talks about it in debates, mentioning some speech which was deleted from his site, etc. Namely that he supported it in his voting, and now says he never did]. “Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen.”

It seems some people have heard “this whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen” as being essentialy the same as “Because Obama is black, the idea that he could ever be elected to president is a fairy tale.”

Now, I will concede that Bill doeshave a way with words, and that it not unknown that he should use subtle ways to communicate things. I will also concede that the word ‘this’ is a pronoun, and as such there is sometimes conusion regarding what it points too. This is not one of those times. Racial remarks and prejudice are something that Obama and his supporters should be concerned about, but attempting to cast the Clintons as closet racists over this is doomed to failure because it’s quite obviously just not the case. I would advise Sharpton and Co to hold their punches until the actual racist remarks start coming from the other side of the isle.

It is true that Obama has not come out against what Clinton said…but he also hasn’t come out dismissing the complaints. It would speak volumes to his character if he stood up and said “hey guys, stop worrying about it, because I’m not. ” This being said, Obama still likely has my vote in the primary.